Bedros Kirkorov, celebrated as a People’s Artist of Russia and Bulgaria, was born on June 2, 1932, in Varna, Bulgaria. His parents were Armenian immigrants who faced hardship, and Bedros took his father’s surname, Krikorian, which his father used as a shoemaker. Family lore recalls that the children were required to adopt Bulgarian surnames before starting school, so Bedros became Kirkorov, joining his sister Marie and brother Harry in the surname change.
As communist power spread, communities formed around artistic work across enterprises. In an interview with kp.ru, Kirkorov explained that his mother and father sang in the city choir, and he often attended rehearsals with his mother. He loved dancing and singing and joined the family choir when there was no space in the dance group available to him. In the choir, he earned the nickname “Pipe” for the power and clarity of his voice. Directors often urged him to sing more quietly as a child, yet his creative drive remained strong. Following his father’s example, he completed a secondary vocational school in a shoemaker’s shop and began working as a shoemaker, as formal musical education was scarce at the time.
After a month at a music school, he gained admission to the Varna Opera without formal musical training, entering as a trainee artist. He learned Alfred’s aria from La Traviata under a tutor, but his plans were interrupted by military service before the premiere. Kirkorov reflected on these early interruptions while pursuing his passion for music.
His mother, who worked as a tailor, opposed his pursuit of opera. She believed that a risky path could lead to moral compromise, especially given the era’s social strictures. Yet a young Armenian intern who saw potential in the shoemaker’s son challenged the family’s reservations, pushing for Bedros to pursue his talent despite the family’s unease. Bedros’s father did not voice much musical influence at home, leaving the decision to his mother, who ultimately guided the family’s stance.
When military service came, Bedros first served on the border and then joined a military ensemble. In 1955, he participated in the international youth festival in Warsaw as part of a workers’ union choir. The group learned an Armenian song, “Drinking,” written by Aram Khachaturian. Though most of the choir members were Bulgarian men, the Armenian lineage of a few singers stood out. Khachaturian himself served on the jury for the festival, and the Bulgarian team encountered a moment of cultural tension when the Armenian origin of the song’s performers became a topic of conversation. Bedros calmly clarified to the choir’s representative that the performers were Bulgarians who knew Armenian, highlighting the cross-cultural connections within their ensemble.
Not long after, Khachaturian advised that Kirkorov study in Yerevan, offering to cover the trip’s expenses. The Bulgarian Minister of Culture did not approve the proposal. A year later, Kirkorov met composer Arno Babajanyan, which led him to enroll in the second year of GITIS, where the renowned opera director Boris Pokrovsky became one of his teachers. Pokrovsky’s mentorship was direct: he told the young artist that Russian was essential, warning that failure to master the language could end his studies early. Bedros took the challenge to heart and began building his Russian fluency while continuing his artistic development.
Parallel to his studies, Bedros collaborated with Mosconcert and toured the USSR with orchestras led by Yuri Silantiev, Vladimir Fedoseev, Eddie Rozner, and Leonid Utesov. In 1964 he married Victoria Likhacheva, and their son Philip was born in 1967. When work was scarce, Utesov invited him to join his troupe, which performed for audiences of all walks of life—from milkmaids to tractor-crew workers. The rhythm of those concerts was relentless; a manager might schedule multiple shows in a single day, and Bedros would adapt. He recalled the practical pace: if there was a 4:30 show and a 5:30 show, they would make it work, even if it meant changing clothes on the fly and rushing to the next stage. The audience’s needs always came first, and those tours became a defining experience for his career.
Over time, Utesov expanded Kirkorov’s repertoire with songs celebrating Bulgarian–Soviet friendship, and his program “Moscow – Sofia, Sofia – Moscow” became a signature. He performed in multiple languages, including Russian, Bulgarian, Armenian, Georgian, and Italian. Notable moments include a duet “My Bulgaria” with Iosif Kobzon and a touching performance of “Alyosha” with his son, paying tribute to the Soviet soldiers memorialized in Plovdiv. His catalog also includes songs like “Back,” “Grenada,” “Irena,” “The currant bush is not for me a symbol of the Motherland,” “Old tango,” “Suliko,” “I love you Russia,” “Song about dad,” among others.
Kirkorov frequently appeared at charity concerts honoring veterans of the Great Patriotic War, helping to raise funds for monuments and memorials. More than three decades ago, he began participating in festivals and supporting talented children on their path to self-realization.
Tragedy marked his personal life as well: his wife Victoria died of cancer in 1994, and in 1997 he married Lyudmila Smirnova, an institute teacher. Their daughter, born in 2002, lived only two weeks. Reports later circulated online alleging further strain in the marriage, but the couple remained publicly connected. Through the years, Bedros’s life has been marked by resilience and continued involvement in music and performance.
Even as he aged, Kirkorov kept performing. In 2020 he appeared at the Songs of the Great Victory concert, and in 2021 he joined the Mask music show with a prominent team. Philip Kirkorov, a permanent juror on the program, expressed astonishment when he discovered his father behind one of the masks. He wrote online about the moment, praising his father as a hero and an idol. The elder Kirkorov faced health challenges in 2020 during a bout with the coronavirus, followed by another infection in 2022. According to Philip, he weathered these episodes with resilience and recovered, continuing to perform when circumstances allowed. In April 2025, he was able to attend his son’s anniversary concert, underscoring the enduring bond between generations in a life devoted to music.